Three Paints and their exhibitors scored big with custom Gist Silversmiths buckles, courtesy of APHA’s Reining Buckle Incentive Program, at the 2018 Carolina Classic Derby, which took place May 8–13 at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Tryon, North Carolina. Congratulations to the following winners:
- Open Derby: Gunners Special Lena and Tania Morton
- Non-Pro Derby: Wheres UR Gun Sugar and Misty Yelton
- Youth: Gunners Star and Gabriella Kammerer
APHA’s popular reining buckle incentive program, which recognizes the high-placing Paint Horses in select classes, is earmarked for five select National Reining Horse Association events across the United States in 2018. Upcoming events are: the Rocky Mountain Summer Slide in Denver, Colorado – July 2018; the Low Roller Reining Classic in Nampa, Idaho – October 2018; and the Southwest Reining Horse Futurity in Ardmore, Oklahoma – October 2018.
Classes are selected by APHA and will vary from show to show, but they’ll include Open and Non-Pro aged events as well as ancillary classes like Non-Pro, Green Reiner, Rookie and/or Youth in an effort to reach a wide variety of competitors. Learn more about the Reining Buckle Incentive Program here.
And remember, these events—along with tons of other NRHA, NRCHA, NCHA and ACHA competitions, count toward APHA World Show qualification requirements. Read more at apha.com/oawcs/qualifiers.
The Carolina Classic featured Team USA reining selection trials for the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018, which takes place September 11–23 at the Tryon International Equestrian Center. APHA is a media partner of WEG Tryon 2018.
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[Reprinting all of part of this story is permitted, so long as credit is given to the Paint Horse Journal and a link provide back to apha.com.]